Biden sent letter to President Abdo Benítez for missing Paraguayans in Miami

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, on Monday sent a letter to his Paraguayan counterpart, Mario Abdo Benítez, for the disappearance of six Paraguayans, including five from the president’s political family., in the collapse of a building in Miami last Thursday.

Abdo Benítez received the letter from US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who went to Asunción on Monday on an official visit.

“President Biden sent a very moving letter to the President of the Republic, which was delivered in person by the Under Secretary of State”Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo said in a media conversation on Monday.

The six missing are Sophia López-Moreira, sister of the first lady, Silvana López-Moreira; her husband, businessman Luis Pettengill, their three minor children, and Lady Luna Villalba, the 23-year-old nanny who traveled to Miami with the Pettengill López-Moreira family.

Acevedo recalled that all “remain in the category of missing” and, at the moment, there is no more news about them.

The Chancellor stressed that Nuland has the same information as the Paraguayan authorities, which is that provided “by the office of the mayor of the county of Miami-Dade, what rescuers and specialists say”.

The six Paraguayans have been missing since Thursday, when a 12-story building in Surfside (Miami-Dade) partially collapsed, in which the López-Moreira family owned an apartment.

Abdo Benítez suspended his schedule for Thursday and Friday, and the first lady arrived in Miami on Friday to monitor the progress of the rescue efforts from the scene.

Relatives of Lady Luna Villalba have received tickets to travel to the United States, according to the Foreign Office, although the family preferred to stay in Paraguay.

However, a brother of the young woman who returned from Argentina underwent a DNA test required by US authorities for rescue efforts.

So far, the death toll in the collapse stands at ten, with 151 missing and 135 found alive, according to official figures.

(With information from EFE)

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